Secret Switch?

The best kind allow the engine to run for fifteen to twenty seconds then shut down. The crooks think this is due to a mechanics fault and not a security system.

With diesels that absolutely must have glow plugs to start summer or winter, disabling the glow plug circuit is wise. A rare few would ever think a diesel no start was security related.

I had a friend with a brand new Ford E-350 diesel welding truck. Parked it downtown San Francisco. Came back four hours later, driver window smashed nothing else. He had pasted a sign to the steering wheel TOW TRUCK DRIVER DO NOT START FIRE DANGER

I put a few tricks on a friends jeep before he took it to Mexico for a year. I installed a toggle switch on the dash to disable the electric fuel pump. I also used a relay so you had to have the headlights on high beam before the starter motor would turn.
One I've thought about but never done was to use several identical toggle switches as a "combination lock" for the starter or ignition circuit. You could wire them so some had to be up and some down to complete the circuit. Most thieves wouldn't take the time to try and flip lots of switches different ways.
A manual valve in the fuel line would work too. You would just turn it off when you left the truck unattended. If it were electrically activated, even better.

This is what I have used since truck was new.

http://www.emergingent.com/vandalalert/vandal_alert_nostart_99f350ps_installation5.htm

I see you also have seen the TV report that the F150/F250 ford truck is number one thief unit now haha...

If I was on the road alot with my 2010 F150 I would want to have the GPS installed for sure.

Roy Ken

When we lived n CA I installed a small switch under drivers seat. Starter would run but not start. Plus steering wheel locking bar. That stuff only slows them down. Mainly stops joy riders. The professional thieves just load it on a trailer.

I'm curious about this myself. The good news is that 2011 models of Ford pickups got a new PATS system with (IIRC) 128 bit keys, as opposed to the previous setup. This makes key guessing a lot harder.

I do like the fuel pump relay replacement. That way, the thieves might be able to start and move the vehicle... then it stalls out on them, leaving them with a large, immovable vehicle in a place that is likely quite obvious to others. I have thought about cutting in a hidden switch onto the fuel pump power (making sure I don't whack anything CANBUS related), for similar effect.

None of this won't stop a dedicated thief (who will use a trailer or enclosed hauler), but it will limit what a tweaker can do.

Something I could never understand about Ford. My wife's 2002 Ford Focus, which had a sticker of $18K, has a PATS system. My 2005 Ford F250 Lariat Crew Cab, with a sticker of $46K, has a standard key. The alarm system I had put in cuts off power to the fuel pump if not deactivated with the key fob.

my truck has a little subdued sticker of a sniper in ghille suit... seems to do the job.. lol :)

What you really want is something that will allow the truck to run for about 30-60 seconds then shut it off.

Thieves (except for the pros with a flatbed) pick a vehicle in a spot where they can work on stealing it without too much observation. If it stalls out on a roadway, they will abandon it most of the time because it's too risky to work on it there.

In the old days with carburetors, a car would run about a minute with no fuel being pumped to it before the gas stored in it would run out. Fuel injection systems need close to full pressure immediately to run the engine so if you disble the pump the best you will get is a few seconds of run time. A switch with a timer circuit to let the pump run for a short while would work good.

Steve